8
COUTURIERS OF LIGHT
Staffan’s first piece for Contardi was born at the V&A. His search for
a light that was a piece of ‘functional sculpture’ was a journey into the
past for an object that would have relevance and resonance across time
and culture. His answer was the Belle. An almost Platonic shape with
iterations in Eastern and Western culture, the Belle’s solemn curves
are modelled in ceramic and then glossed in a muted palette of colours
personally selected by Staffan during one of his visits to Contardi’s
headquarters in Desio, outside Milan. The silk rope, luxuriously plaited
to conceal the electric cord, adds a subtle touch of glamour to this
monastic piece. Launched at Maison et Objet in January 2014, the
Belles were immediately appealing. Hanging down beside a bed, or
layered over a staircase, the Belles evoke sacred spaces and only reveal
their function on closer inspection. When a former colleague proudly
sent him a picture of them hanging in another designer’s store on the
Brompton Road, it was the proof that his products had moved from a
private space to a public one and that other designers and retailers
could see that the Belle was a commercially viable piece.
ECHOES FROM THE PAST
At Euroluce, the lighting fair at Saloni, 2015 two more iterations of the
Belle were launched: a half Belle becomes a wall light, and a ‘School
Belle’ that evokes memories of a former age where a bell with a solid
handle was hand rung to call children back from the playground.
A ceiling light, Recess, also takes inspiration from the past and from
sacred spaces. And from a frustration with the ubiquitous downlights
that pepper modern ceilings. Says Staffan, “somewhere along the
way we lost the beauty of the ceiling. Like the 4th wall between the
audience and the stage we all started pretending that the ceiling was
invisible and just a place in which to position lights.” Recess, born
from the idea of stained-glass windows, helps to reclaim this plane